Naperville District 203 will research how to best help rural schools feel secure as an alternative to arming educators in schools.

Last weekend, the delegate assembly Illinois Association of School Boards voted not to adopt a proposed resolution to support legislation giving local school boards the option to allow staff to be armed in school buildings.

The vote of delegates from across the state was 203-179 against the resolution.

Districts opposing the measure argued arming staff would not create a safer environment for their students.

The proposed resolution intended to give local school districts authority to choose the best safety and protection practices for their communities. The resolution was supported primarily by rural school districts with concerns about emergency response time and lack of financial resources to employ school resource officers.

Terry Fielden, the District 203 delegate in the assembly, said the debate was very civil.

Naperville School District 203

Terry Fielden, Naperville School District 203 board member.

Terry Fielden, Naperville School District 203 board member. (Naperville School District 203)

“There was quite a bit of opposition,” Fielden said. “In the end the vote went the favor it should have, at least from our perspective.”

While arming teachers is no longer being pursued by IASB, Fielden said districts voting against the measure have to remember that the problem downstate hasn’t gone away.

Fielden called on his board to draft a resolution that would encourage the state to pay for either additional resources officers or fund some type of law enforcement for rural districts.

“What that looks like or how it gets categorized and so forth remains to be seen,” he said. “But I don’t think we can say you can’t do this without offering somebody an option as to how they might protect themselves.”

Peyton Arens, one of the Washington Junior High eighth-graders who appealed to the District 203 board to vote against arming staff, said he was happy with the outcome.

Peyton said he was nervous and unsure if the school board would listen to a student. They not only heard what he had to say, but several board members thanked him for speaking. “It was super inspiring,” Peyton said.

Indian Prairie District 204 board President Michael Raczak said he and fellow board members were “happy and pleased” with not only results of the gun measure, but also by two adopted resolutions pushed by District 204.

The assembly approved an amended belief statement on education in civics, adding language on the importance of student voter registration, and approved a new belief statement recommending local authority over decision-making relating to school safety drills, plans and procedures.

The first was introduced by District 204 board member Laurie Donahue and the second by board member Cathy Piehl.

This isn’t the first time Indian Prairie leaders have brought items for a vote before the delegate assembly.

In previous years, Piehl has tried to get support for a resolution that would allow school districts to opt out of becoming polling places. In 2010, District 204 proposed the “deadbeat amendment,” legislation that would have allowed school districts to withhold payments to the state until the state caught up in its payments to the school districts.

Raczak said the Indian Prairie leadership tries to think innovatively.

“We just have concerned board members,” Raczak said. “We want to be on the forefront.”